Kentucky men’s soccer takes aim at Sun Belt title, No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament
.jpg "The University of Kentucky men’s soccer team takes an undefeated record into Sunday’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game against James Madison in Lexington. UK finished a regular season undefeated for the first time in program history in 2022.")
The University of Kentucky is poised to enter the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s No. 1-ranked men’s soccer team.
One important piece of business remains to be settled Sunday to make that happen.
Kentucky, the only remaining undefeated team in NCAA Division I at 13-0-5, hosts James Madison (8-7-4) in the championship match of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at UK’s Bell Soccer Complex.
The 1 p.m. match will be streamed live on ESPN Plus.
UK is attempting to win the Sun Belt title in its first season in the league after moving from Conference USA.
The winner of Sunday’s match secures the Sun Belt’s automatic berth to the 48-team NCAA Tournament, which starts next week.
Kentucky, ranked No. 2 in this week’s United Soccer Coaches poll, could well be ranked No. 1 in the nation and earn the top seed in the NCAA Tournament if it can win Sunday. The team currently ranked No. 1, Washington, suffered its first loss of the year in its regular-season finale on Thursday night at home against Oregon State. The Huskies (15-1-3) do not play a conference tournament.
Kentucky, in its 11th year under head coach Johan Cedergren, has never advanced past the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. This year’s field will be drawn Monday at 1 p.m. during a live broadcast on NCAA.com.
Kentucky, the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, reached the championship game with victories last week over No. 8 seed South Carolina (2-1) and No. 4 West Virginia (3-0). James Madison advanced by beating No. 2 Marshall (1-0) and No. 3 Georgia State (5-0).
During the regular season, Kentucky beat James Madison 3-1 on Oct. 1 at Harrisonburg, Va.
Two Cats qualify for cross country nationals
Two UK runners qualified for next week’s NCAA Cross Country Championships by posting top-10 finishes in Friday’s Southeast Regional at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville.
Tori Herman, a junior from Hilton Head, S.C., finished fourth in the women’s race by covering the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 10.9 seconds. Teammate Perri Bockrath, a graduate student from Centerville, Ohio, came in ninth in 20:17.3.
Both runners qualified for the national meet for the second year in a row. This year’s NCAA championship event is Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
The Kentucky women finished sixth out of 32 teams at Friday’s regional.
“Having two individuals qualify for the nationals, especially knowing that there are only four individuals that make it out of the regional that are not on (advancing) teams — to have half that group — is a testament to how strong both of them are,” said assistant track coach Hakon DeVries, who guides UK’s cross country and distance runners. “They have been two of the best runners in the nation all season and I’m so happy for them to have the opportunity to showcase it at the NCAAs, chasing the dream that started during the summer.”
After Herman and Bockrath, Kentucky’s next three scorers were Sydney Steely in 48th place (21:19.7), Kaylie Kenne in 66th (21:41.2) and Jenna Schwinghamer in 77th (21:48.7).
North Carolina State swept the top three individual spots, led by Katelyn Tuohy in 19:49.1, to win the team competition.
The top five teams ahead of Kentucky were N.C. State, North Carolina, Virginia, Furman and Duke. Eastern Kentucky ended up 12th. Louisville finished 22nd, Northern Kentucky 28th, Murray State 30th and Morehead State 31st.
Only the top two teams advance to the NCAA championships.
Kentucky’s men came in 10th place out of 32 teams and did not qualify any runners for the NCAA championship meet.
Jake Allen led UK with a 45-place finish in 30:46.8 in the 10K men’s race.
Nickolas Scudder of Charlotte was the top men’s individual in 29:42.8. North Carolina and Virginia claimed the top two spots in the team competition.
Eastern Kentucky finished sixth, Louisville 13th, Morehead State 23rd, Murray State 26th and Northern Kentucky 27th.
Volleyball wins fifth straight
Sophomore setter Emma Grome had 54 assists and 19 digs Friday night as the No. 19 Kentucky volleyball team rallied from a first-set defeat to beat Mississippi State 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15) at Starkville, Miss.
Reagan Rutherford led Kentucky with 19 kills, as the Wildcats won their fifth match in a row. Adanna Rollins had 14 and Azhani Tealer 13. Tealer also had a career-high five digs, along with six blocks.
Kentucky, in pursuit of its sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference championship, improved to 16-6 overall and 11-2 in the league, tied for first place with No. 11 Florida.
The Wildcats return to action Wednesday when they host Tennessee (14-11, 8-5) at 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus) in Memorial Coliseum.